Baranów Sandomierski

The settlement or the gord of Baranów was first mentioned in 1135. It was conveniently located near the Vistula river ford, The next month, in July, the ghetto was liquidated, with the Jewish inhabitants being forcefully relocated to a ghetto in Dębica. In July 1944, units of the Red Army crossed the Vistula near the town, creating the so-called Baranów Bridgehead (see Vistula–Oder Offensive). Between 1975 and 1998, the town belonged to the Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship. ==Castle==

The town is well known for its picturesque Renaissance castle/palace built in 1591–1606. It is known as "little Wawel". This castle is a class zero monument. It is believed to be the work of the famous architect, Santi Gucci, the court artist of King Sigismund II Augustus, who brought many foreign architects from around Europe to Poland in the 16th century. The castle was built around 1591–1606 for Rafał and Andrzej Leszczyński. Its style comes from the Italian renaissance. By the end of the 17th century, the next owners were the Lubomirski family, who decided to change the residence. They hired a Dutch architect, who added columns on the inside of the castle courtyard, on which there was a gallery of art by Giovanni Battista (unfortunately all the art was destroyed in two fires in 1848 and 1898). ==See also==